Friday, October 29, 2010

As the weekend approaches and the Monday to Friday workers are ready for a much deserved weekend, a report was released today that says an astounding 57% of respondents to a Harris/Decima survey said they feel their schedules are busier now than they were 5 years ago.

The study goes on to blame technology for this. Things like smartphones and social networking are demanding time and that time has got to come from somewhere!

Here is an article on the survey from Postmedia - take a second to read it if you have the time;

Technology blamed for lack of free time

Growing use of smartphones, social networking becoming an addiction, poll finds

By Derek Abma, Postmedia NewsOctober 29, 2010

If you can spare a moment, consider this: Canadians say demands on their time have grown in recent years, and experts are putting much of the blame on recent technological trends such as smartphones and social networks.

Results of a Harris/Decima poll, commissioned by Scotiabank and released Thursday, says 57 per cent of Canadians find their schedules busier than they were five years ago.

Those who study such matters say much of this is the result of more time devoted to technology such as BlackBerrys, iPhones, and online social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter.

While a lot of this activity comes directly from demands of one's employer, Torontobased life coach Joshua Zuchter said much of it is also a matter of personal choice.

"We've actually, to a degree, become addicted to communicating instead of taking pauses or rests or reflection time," he said. "So even when people actually want to take breaks, when they start to even contemplate it, it becomes uncomfortable because they're so used to revving at a high speed."

More than 60 per cent of survey respondents said they would be "much better off" with an extra hour of free time each day. Commenting on this part of the survey, Zuchter said: "I truly believe that if they had an extra hour, they would use that to do even more texting."

Randall Craig, a Torontobased author and consultant on work-life balance issues, also talked about how newer technology has added to people's time pressures.

"There's a lot of people who check their BlackBerry before they go to bed," he said. "They check it before they go into the office first thing in the morning. They take it with them on vacation."

Whereas reading the newspaper was more common a generation ago, Craig said people these days, people are more likely to be on the Internet, not only receiving content, but also contributing to it.

"Engagement takes time, and that time's got to come from somewhere," he said.

The survey showed young adults feel the most time pressures with 74 per cent of respondents aged 25 to 34 saying their time commitments have risen in the last five years, and 78 per cent of those between 35 and 44 answering this way.

Craig attributed part of this to the fact people in these age groups are in a "sandwich generation" in which they are likely to feel the family pressures of having to take care of children, aging parents or both.

Zuchter said life during these ages is among the most stressful -- and has been historically -- because it is when demands at work and at home tend to be at their highest.

He added that people in their 20s through to their 40s are also the most likely to be spending a lot of time on smartphones.

When people were asked in the survey what they would do with an extra hour of time each day, the most popular response was to spend it with family and friends, an answer cited by 70 per cent of those polled. Other popular responses in a multi-choice question included: exercise, cited by 51 per cent; read, 49 per cent; and nap, 37 per cent.

The survey also showed that 53 per cent of respondents would like to find more productive uses for some of their idle time. The Harris/Decima survey of 1,007 Canadians was conducted in May by telephone. The results are considered representative of the population within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

A study released by ADP today shows that nearly 1 in 5 job applicants will stretch the truth on their resume or in the interview process to get a better job.

The most common offence is saying they earned more in the previous/current job than they actually are - a whopping 27% of those who confessed to stretching the truth were doing that. This was followed by the 'Fact Fudgers' who embellish their responsibilities (19%) and the 'Time-Will-Tells' who completely fabricate skills on their resume (17%). Other offences include lying about holding credentials in a professional field (12%) and those who gloss over inconsequential details such as gaps between employment or the duration of their jobs (15%).

What's interesting about this is that 84% of respondents in the study said they would be upset if they knew that someone was promoted or hired because they'd stretched the truth. If we do the math here, it looks like some people are fine lying to get a job but they aren't ok if anyone else does it!

Employers, the cost of hiring someone is already high enough - don't you want to be sure that you're hiring the right person? If you do, you should look at our Specialized Recruitment process and get in touch with one of our recruitment consultants to talk about the accuracy we have with our candidates' presentation.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Our Oil & Gas jobs are growing and now we have a great way for you to penetrate the industry.

We're looking for reliability engineers of all levels to work with our client all over Alberta. These positions vary all the way to senior project managers and are a great transition into oil & gas from process industries or the pulp & paper sector.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

A study released by Canadian author Phil Holmes says that only 2% of Canadians are working in their ideal job and this statistic is scary as employees are more apt to follow their hearts these days - even if that comes with a lower paycheque.

Holmes goes on to say that over the past few decades more employees are weighing the risks involved in following their happiness and choosing happiness over compensation.

So, as an employer what can you do to retain your top talent? Look into our HR Consulting services at CMS as a first step. We have a track record of improving retention and if this report is any indication, you should consider such improvements. Get in touch with one of our consultants for more information.

And employees, if you are looking for a better step in your life check out our current job openings. We're adding new positions daily and are proud of the culture inside of our client's organizations. Get in touch with us if you'd like to learn anything more about our vacancies.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

This article, from the Calgary Herald echoes what we've all been hearing for months - that the economy is getting better. The article points to the energy sector as the primary fuel, but also notes that Alberta is 'increasingly tarnished and dismissed as duck-killing, knuckle-dragging Neanderthals' and we cannot be seen this way.

The rebound is no surprise to us and we've been telling you about it on our blog. We are seeing more & more new positions and recruiting activity is picking up. Check out our current opportunities and follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on the positions we are filling.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

CMS is presently looking for various reliability engineers in the mechanical discipline. Please look at our current Oil & Gas, Engineering and Executive & Management positions for more information on any of these positions.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Alberta Venture printed a series of articles for this month's publication based on their 2010 Business Conditions Survey. Most notably it reveals that more high-ranking executives are planning to hire in the next 12 months than at the height of the boom in 2005.

It also showed that 87% of respondents expect their profits to rise in the next year, and still more expect their industries as a whole to grow.

This is good news across the board, but no surprise to us at CMS. We've seen the market improving for some time now and a look at our current opportunities proves this. We're frequently adding new positions, so follow us on Twitter to keep up with us - and if you see something of interest get in touch with us. One of our consultants will be happy to talk.

Friday, October 15, 2010

As we told you in a recent blog post, the recent hailstorm in Calgary hit a record for damages and our insurance clients are looking to us to help them fill field adjuster roles.

This would be a perfect opportunity to make the most of your property adjusting experience and get some insurance experience on your resume. If you know how to operate the Xactimate estimating system we want to hear from you!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

A study released today shows that 23% of Canadians don't know what their home insurance policy covers! Further, 57% of the poll's respondents don't keep an inventory of their personal valuables and 29% do not update their insurance policy after purchasing new valuables.

Do you know how you're covered? Are you an insurance industry professional? If so, you might want to review our current insurance jobs and see if we can help you take the next step in your career. We're constantly adding new positions and we encourage you to follow us on Twitter or get in touch with us to find out about new positions.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A long standing client of ours has secured our services for a new branch manager in their Calgary branch. This is an exciting role in the electrical wholesale industry because our client is one of the few wholesalers that are in growth mode right now - leading the Calgary branch you'll be heading up the region's growth with our client's extensive resources.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

On Friday, October 8 StatsCan released the monthly Labour Force Survey and almost immediately the media went up in arms, crying about the massive loss of jobs and unemployment rate. Instead of going through a similar reaction, we at CMS read the report and think it's important to point to some issues the media didn't;

While it is true that some 44,000 part-time jobs were lost in September, for the most part the media neglected to point out that it is September and a large amount of part-time workers go back to school in September. Further, the travel & tourism and hospitality industries are at their peak in the summer months, so entering into autumn isn't it natural that there will be a decline in part-time work?

And what of full time employment? There was an increase of 37,000 full time jobs! This amount nearly offsets the decline in part-time employment and that's without measuring total hours worked by Canadians! Moreover, there was a gain of some 8,000 full time manufacturing jobs and manufacturing has long been looked to as an indicator of future employment reports.

While the report said that employment dropped for the 15-24 year old age group (remember, it is September!) it also mentioned that the employment rate of those over 55 continues to climb month after month (September being no exception!) Average hourly wages for employees has also climbed 2.3% since last September.

Friday, October 8, 2010

The article points to the rest of Canada outside of Alberta asking where the support is - while the oilsands face ongoing scrutiny and disapproval from NGOs and 'enviros' why isn't Ottawa stepping to the defence?

And moreover, to what end does this criticism take us? Activity in the oilsands is picking up as you can see in our current opportunities and the rest of Canada is benefiting through all of our industries.

As Murphy puts it;

"Properly understood, the work of investigating, mining, processing and building the infrastructure to extract the oil — the whole complex of engineering and technological achievement represented by the oil sands — should be a story of Canadian triumph. It’s as singular an achievement in its way as a genuine masterwork of literature or art. This is some of the most sophisticated, pioneering work of its kind in the entire world."

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

As Canada emerges from economic uncertainty and more & more companies are hiring again, economists at TD have released a list of what they consider to be the hottest markets for job growth.

They say that manufacturing, health care, finance & insurance and primary industries will lead the return to a job boom. Primary industries like oil & gas, agriculture and logging will lead the way, contributing about three times their job share in terms of net new employment in 2011 and 2012.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

A study released today by Ipsos Reid says that 27% of Canadian employees are considering a change of work-place in the next 6 months. The firm says that this number raises to 34% for those who had their wages frozen. Many respondents feel that they are still working through recessionary times by higher work-load and lower wage increases - even though the recession is technically over.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Alberta's oil industry is getting busier and busier and demand is increasing for environmental professionals. To add to this, succession planning is becoming quite a trend and our clients are looking to our expertise in the environmental sector to source tomorrow's management.

Take a look at our Engineering & Environmental jobs to see if we can help you move your career on to a management track today! Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Facebook as more openings are just around the corner.